Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to optical fibers and, more particularly, to optical fiber gratings inscription.
Description of Related Art
In optical fibers, gratings are often inscribed by exposing photosensitive regions of an optical fiber, such as the core, to actinic radiation, such as ultraviolet (UV) light. Specifically, an interference pattern is generated from the actinic radiation by, for example, using an interferogram or other known technique.
Due to the cylindrical shape of the optical fiber, when UV light irradiates the optical fiber from a direction that is transverse to the cylindrical axis, the curvature of the optical fiber causes focusing of the UV light. This phenomenon, known as lensing, results in undesirable intensity variations within the optical fiber.
Given this drawback, there is room for improvement for gratings inscription techniques.